Back in August 2019, Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited the hospital and met staff when he announced funding for the transformation of the Emergency Department.

Since then, lots of work has been taking place behind the scenes to finalise a design that not only meets the needs of patients and staff now,

but also in the future. These plans have now been submitted to Boston Borough Council seeking planning permission and show how the department will:

• More than double in size
• Include state of the art innovations and infection prevention control measures
• Have a much bigger resuscitation zone for the sickest patients
• Have more cubicles in which to treat patients
• Have a separate area dedicated to providing emergency care for the hospital’s youngest patients and their families
• Have more training rooms for staff
• Have a much better environment for patients and staff.

Once planning permission has been granted, the next step will be to get final approval from the Department of Health and Social Care.

In the meantime, scaffolding is about to go up around the four-storey building to the left of the main hospital so that it can be repurposed for additional clinical and office space. This will include the renovation of three whole floors, upgrades to electrics and infrastructure, as well as the controlled removal of some asbestos by a specialist company.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust Chief Executive, Andrew Morgan, said: “These enabling works can be started straight away and will mean that we can then relocate some of our administration teams and some services within the site. This will then allow us to clear and demolish the necessary areas adjacent to the existing Emergency Department so that it can be extended and transformed.

“By doing these enabling works now, it means that once all of the necessary permissions are in place, we will be in a position to hit the ground running on the multi-million-pound transformation of the new Emergency Department.”